MEMS Tutorial:

Pull-in voltage in electrostatic microactuators

In this tutorial, we cover the pull-in effect in electrostatic MEMS devices. Figure 1 shows the schematic
of an electrostatic actuator that could be used for example as a tunable RF capacitor. When voltage is applied
over the capacitance, electrostatic force will work to reduce the plate separation d x. At small voltages,
the electrostatic voltage is countered by the spring force Fk = kx but as voltage is increased the plates will
eventually snap together. Estimating this pull-in voltage UP and the plate travel distance xP before pull-in
effect is required for the successful design of electrostatic actuators, switches, varactors, and sensors.

C =

Ael
dx

Figure 1. Schematic of an electrostatic actuator. The plate is attached to a spring k. The capacitor
capacitance C depends on the plate area Ael and gap d x.
To derive the expression for pull-in, we start by writing the total potential energy in the system:
E =

1 Ael 2 1 2
U + kx ,
2 d x
2

(1)

where the first term is the electrostatic potential of the deformable capacitor and of the voltage source and the
second term is due to the mechanical energy stored in the spring. The force acting on the movable plate is
obtained by deriving Equation (1):
F =

E
1 Ael
=
U 2 kx.
x
2 (d x)2

(2)

At equilibrium, the electrostatic force and spring force cancels (F = 0) and Equation (2) gives:
kx =

1 Ael
U 2.
2 (d x)2

(3)

Equation (3) can be solved for the equilibrium plate position x as a function of applied voltage U as shown
in Figure 2(a). Above the pull-in voltage VP , Equation (3) has no solutions. The solution above the pull-in
displacement (green line) are shown to be unstable in the following.
A simple expression for the pull-in point is obtained by deriving Equation (2) to obtain the stiffness of the
system:
F
Ael
=
U 2 k.
(4)
x
(d x)3
Substituting Equation (3) gives the stiffness around the equilibrium point:
F
2kx
=
k.
x
(d x)
Copyright Ville Kaajakari (ville@kaajakari.net)
Homepage: http://www.kaajakari.net
Tutorials: http://www.kaajakari.net/~ville/research/tutorials/tutorials.shtml

(5)

0.7
0.7

0.4

0
0
0.1
0.2
0.3
0.4
0.5
0.3 0.3
0.4 0.4
0.5
0.6
0.7
0 0.1 0.10.2 0.2
0.5
0.6

x/d x/d

x/d

0.6
0.8
0.7

0.7
0.9
0.8

0.8
1
0.9

(a) The equilibrium relationship between plate displacement x and voltage U.

0.1

0.1 0.1

Stiffness [k]

0.2

Stiffness [k]

Stiffness [k]

0.3

0.2 0.2

0.4

0.3 0.3

0.5

Stiffness [k]

0.4

0.5

Stiffness [k]

Voltage [ kd 3 / Ael ]

Voltage [ kd 3 / Ael ]
Voltage [ kd 3 / Ael ]
0.5

0.6

0.6

0.6

Stiffness [k]

0.7

-1
0.9
1
0
0.1
0.2
0.3
0.4
0.5
0.6
-1
-1
0.1 0 0.2 0.1 0.3 0.2 0.4 0.3 0.5 0.40.6 0.50.7 0.60.8 0.70.9
1 0

x/d

x/d

x/d

0.7
0.81

-1
0.8 -1 0.9
1
0
0.1
0.2
0.3
0.4
0.5
0.6
0.7
0.8
0.9
-1
01
0.1 0 0.2 0.10.3 0.2
0.4 0.3
0.5 0.4
0.6 0.5
0.7
0.8
0.9
1
0.9
0.6
0.7
0.8
0.9
1
3
3
el
3
el

Voltage Voltage
[ kd /Voltage
A[ kd
] / [Akd] / A ]
el

(b) The stiffness as a function of

equilibrium point x. Positive stiffness indicates unstable equilibrium
point.

(c) The stiffness as a function of

voltage U.

Figure 2. Pull-in effect in plate capacitor. No equilibrium solutions are obtained above the pull-in voltage
(red line). Above the pull-in displacement (green line), the actuator is unstable.
With no applied voltage Equation (5) is simply F
x = k; a small positive movement x result in negative
restoring force F
x
=
kx.
Increasing
the
bias
voltage U makes the stiffness less negative. The unstable
x
F
point is given by x = 0 giving
1
x = d.
(6)
3
Beyond this point the stiffness becomes positive as shown in Figure 2(b) and the system is unstable: a small
positive movement x result in positive force that increases x. Substituting Eq. (6) to Eq. (3) gives the pull-in
voltage at which the system becomes unstable
s
8 kd 3
UP =
.
(7)
27 Ael
Exercise:
Figure on the right shows a schematic of a MEMS device that
has capacitors on both sides of the movable plate. Assume
that equal voltage is applied over both plates. Note that the
equilibrium point is always at x = 0. Derive the p
expression for
the pull-in voltage. The correct answer is VP = kd 3 /2Ael .

Ael
d+x
A
C = el
dx

C =

1
VP =

kd 3
2A

Copyright Ville Kaajakari (ville@kaajakari.net)

Homepage: http://www.kaajakari.net
Tutorials: http://www.kaajakari.net/~ville/research/tutorials/tutorials.shtml